Blizzard Office Raided in Seoul Over Diablo III Consumer Allegations

[Vargur]

Finally, some backfire.

The government has launched an investigation into Blizzard Entertainment over allegations that the American computer gamemaker has refused to refund Koreans who purchased its latest real-time role-playing game Diablo 3.

The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said the firm is suspected of having violated the country’s law on electronic commerce and commercial contracts. The FTC said Tuesday that it raided the firm’s Seoul office Monday and secured related documents and other evidence with which it will determine whether Blizzard broke the law.

The investigation comes only two weeks after the release of the game, which has sold more than 6.3 million copies worldwide.
Larger-than-expected traffic to the online game’s severs made it extremely difficult for its users to access the game, particularly on weekday nights and weekends, according to Blizzard Korea.

Some buyers of the game vented frustration over server shutdowns and asked for refunds, but the company refused to do so, citing sales contract terms, which the FTC says is disadvantageous to consumers.

Blizzard said it doubled the capacity of servers Friday and pledged to improve services further in order to prevent a recurrence of the problem.

Despite the move, major portals have already been receiving messages denouncing Blizzard’s poor service. Hundreds of users have filed formal complaints with the FTC, calling for an investigation by the regulator.

“We have received many complaints from Diablo 3 users,” said Kim Hyung-bae, a spokesman for the FTC. He admitted that an investigation into Blizzard is underway, but refused to elaborate.

Other FTC officials said the probe is aimed at confirming whether the firm has sold the game based on what they describe as an “unfair” contract so that people cannot receive refunds even if they discover problems with the game. They said they are studying whether the company should be held liable for “ill-preparation” for unexpected traffic.

It’s too early to see any results of the probe but some investigators expect the regulator to issue an order mandating Blizzard to provide a full refund to all unhappy customers.

Diablo 3, out nearly 12 years after its incredibly successful predecessor Diablo 2, was one of the most anticipated releases in some time both here and abroad.
According to game ranking firm Gametrics, Diablo 3 accounted for 16.16 percent of user time at PC rooms within a day of its release. The rate has increased to nearly 40 percent, it said.

Users choose one of five classes ㅡ Barbarian, Wizard, Monk, Demon Hunter or Witch Doctor ㅡ to fight the titular demon Diablo in single player quests and can level-up online in a Battle.net multiplayer platform provided by Blizzard.

The Diablo series is dubbed a “game of evil,” for its storyline and the fact that it is expected to account for many sleepless nights by avid gamers here.

Blizzard is well known for its constant patches and bug-fixes (12-year-old Diablo 2 is still very well maintained and played often), but thwarting constant hackers and illegal programs being slipped into the game is another task for the firm.

Sources:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news...23_111971.html
http://www.tentonhammer.com/diablo3/...er-allegations

[Arganis]

This is just sad, who gives a shit if some brats lost a few days of game time, the game itself should be the outrage. Jesus

[Video Games]

Good. It's nice when costumers don't just bend over and take it.

[Aquamonkey]

I'm surprised there aren't riots everywhere over Blizzard doing server maintenance on WoW and D3 at the same time.

[Kisho]

This is so, so funny. Getting those sorts of agencies involved. Just... Rofl.

Yeah, the lag is problematic. It's getting sorted. Demanding refunds because you lost out on a couple of precious days is just throwing a tantrum and tossing all your toys out of the pram.

It's actions like this that stifle creativity and make games WORSE, not better. Forcing game creators to worry about so much dumb shit is hurting the industry. These people really need to grow up and think about people other than themselves.

[Aquamonkey]

This is so, so funny. Getting those sorts of agencies involved. Just... Rofl.

Yeah, the lag is problematic. It's getting sorted. Demanding refunds because you lost out on a couple of precious days is just throwing a tantrum and tossing all your toys out of the pram.

It's actions like this that stifle creativity and make games WORSE, not better. Forcing game creators to worry about so much dumb shit is hurting the industry. These people really need to grow up and think about people other than themselves.

They are entitled to being able to play a game they payed for. It's like buying a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it 5 miles down the road.

EDIT: Or like going to a movie theater, finding out they oversold the showing and refusing to refund your money when you can't get in.

[Vigilate]

This is just sad, who gives a shit if some brats lost a few days of game time, the game itself should be the outrage. Jesus

The raid wasn't over lost play days if you read the article. The article is about Blizzard not refunding money for a game the customer wants to return. There are actually some laws on the book about this.

[MarizzaDraenor]

About time. Hope they get a HUGE compensation so they stop the online only crap on its birth.

[Gingercrab]

This is just depressing.

First world problems much.

[Kisho]

They are entitled to being able to play a game they payed for. It's like buying a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it 5 miles down the road.

And yet, they can play the game. Just not when an unprecedented 6.3 million people are also attempting the same thing. Servers got overloaded: it couldn't have been predicted. Blizzard are working hard to fix it now, and indeed there's rarely an issue with the servers now. That first day was a problem, and yesterday was an issue due to the implementation of the patch, but beyond that I've had no issues whatsoever.

It's a gross over-reaction and it's utterly, utterly pointless.

[Arganis]

The raid wasn't over lost play days if you read the article. The article is about Blizzard not refunding money for a game the customer wants to return. There are actually some laws on the book about this.

Yes but they want a refund for lol "lost play days" that's the ridiculous part. If anything you should want a refund on D3 because the game basically ends by the time you reach lvl 60. That is unless you're a masochist, then inferno is for you.

Anyways I still approve cause Blizz should be put in it's place, but not for that reason.

[Deleted]

Good job. I'm not surprised this has started.

Screw you all you blizzard lovers.

[Mican17]

Learn to read, people. o_O

They were raided because they refused to refund.

[Deleted]

They are entitled to being able to play a game they payed for. It's like buying a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it 5 miles down the road.
EDIT: Or like going to a movie theater, finding out they oversold the showing and refusing to refund your money when you can't get in.

thats why such a car can be brought back to let them fix it, or the movie theater giving you a new ticket for a later show of the same movie.
noone likes to give back money earned. instead everyone tries to fix it with the least possible extra cost involved.
imo quite reasonable and exactly what blizzard is doing.

[Deleted]

Yes but they want a refund for lol "lost play days" that's the ridiculous part. If anything you should want a refund on D3 because the game basically ends by the time you reach lvl 60. That is unless you're a masochist, then inferno is for you.

Anyways I still approve cause Blizz should be put in it's place, but not for that reason.

Because the game "ends when you reach 60" they should get a refund? Are you insane or have you not played any game in the last few years that is not an mmo?

[herpecin]

They are entitled to being able to play a game they payed for. It's like buying a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it 5 miles down the road.

im fairly sure there is a paragraph in the EULA about blizz not being responsible for server downtime, connection issues, etc..

should blizz been better prepared for the launch? yes. but they are a company that wants to make money, so they start with a conservative estimate for server usage and ramp it up as needed.

also server strain was probably the highest in the first 24 hours that it will EVER be in the life of the game.

the commodities AH being down for almost a week now, and pushing the RMAH back to over 1 month from launch are the biggest things for me.

[Deleted]

They are entitled to being able to play a game they payed for. It's like buying a car that breaks down as soon as you drive it 5 miles down the road.

EDIT: Or like going to a movie theater, finding out they oversold the showing and refusing to refund your money when you can't get in.

So if i get stuck in traffic during rush hours then im entitled to get my money back?

[Fojos]

Yes but they want a refund for lol "lost play days" that's the ridiculous part. If anything you should want a refund on D3 because the game basically ends by the time you reach lvl 60. That is unless you're a masochist, then inferno is for you.

Anyways I still approve cause Blizz should be put in it's place, but not for that reason.

That's like saying you should get a refund for buying a car, driving it for a few hundred miles, and then deciding you don't want it anymore and want a full refund.

You're only complaining because you didn't know what a Diablo game was, which is all on your own, no one else.

[Arganis]

Because the game "ends when you reach 60" they should get a refund? Are you insane or have you not played any game in the last few years that is not an mmo?

I have and those games don't have cartoon villains and difficulty levels based on nothing but how frustrating and unfair the mechanics can get that end within hours and with no replay value except to experience the different classes. This is a Blizzard game, they don't want you to put it down three days later and never come back, how else are they gonna milk the rmah cow? The point being this game is a disappointment given the hype and obnoxious amount of time it took them to release it.

---------- Post added 2012-05-31 at 10:48 AM ----------

That's like saying you should get a refund for buying a car, driving it for a few hundred miles, and then deciding you don't want it anymore and want a full refund.

I'm just saying the fact the servers were unstable for a couple days isn't a good reason to ask for a refund imo. It was to be expected given the insanity. The shitty product, now that's a reason and this is a game, not a car. It takes awhile before you can tell if a game is basically pointless.

[Repefe]

What is being investigated is the terms under which you purchase the game and whether or not Blizz was prepared for its launch. Lets be honest the terms under which companies sell their games are often pretty ridiculous, so no problem with that being inspected.